A wrenching sensation seared through Rebecca’s lower back, buckling her knees and making her writhe in agony.

Tom barrel-rolled over the top of the couch like a stunt plane and fled to the kitchen. Rebecca hunched over on her hands and knees in a puddle of bitter liquid. Shards of glass and a pungent smell of vinegar permeated the room.

When she looked up at Tom, his heart sank in fright. Her piercing, wild green eyes shot through his soul, and she let out a deep growl, propelling him back against the wall.

“No, no, no.” Tom leaped to her side and pulled her out of the acidic puddle. A warm liquid continued pouring down her shaking legs as she wrapped herself around him.

“It’s time,” she said in between rapid breaths. “Grab my bag.”

“No, no, no, not now, not today. She can’t come today. It’s too early,” Tom said. Her intense eyes and furrowed brow returned, searing a hole through his forehead. “NOW!” She howled at a higher pitch, sending him scrambling to retrieve her bags.

The moans growled closer together like a primordial cave woman. Tom sped backward down the driveway, threw the Ranger into drive, and disappeared into a dust storm on the gravel road.

Static sizzled as the radio broadcast interrupted the tunes.

“And welcome back to your traffic update, folks! We’re on the scene, reporting from the heart of the eclipse madness! An extraordinary event is assembling in the sky, but it’s a different story on the roads below.”

A fervent honking of horns crescendoed in the background.

Tom began swatting at the radio, trying to find the off button.

“Traffic. We’ve got reports from all over the city and surrounding suburbs. Major highways, side streets, you name it—all choked up with eager star trekkers frantically attempting to experience this total phenomenon.”

Shuffling and frustrated sighs from bystanders overtook the muffled weather reporter.

“Folks, we feel your pain if you’re stuck in this cosmic congestion. Remember, patience is key! This event only happens once in a lifetime for everyone. In the world. So buckle up and enjoy the ride. All you fellow eclipse enthusiasts, keep those eyes on the sky!”

Faint cheers roared in the background.

“We’ll update you on the traffic situation as best we can. This is truly a unique experience to remember! Back to you, Rockn’ Rick.”

After a few smacks, the radio switched off, and the broadcast ended. Another unbridled whimper seethed through Rebecca’s clenched teeth, digging her claws into Tom’s forearm and leaving dappled red claw marks.

“Breathe. In. Out.” Tom said. Out of instinct, he winced, not knowing the right thing to say, knowing the odds were high of her smacking him. He sped into a sharp turn, sending the Ranger curtailing. Rebecca arched her back and stuck her hand in between her throbbing thighs.

“Her head. She’s coming. I feel her head.”

Tom slammed the pedal down. “Noooooo!” Rebecca’s breath quickened as the pain intensified, her eyes bulging. Tom’s heart raced as he navigated the winding road ahead, swerving in and out of the intense traffic like an alpine skier.

Instantaneously, they came to a screeching halt. There was no more sway to give. Cars stretched for miles into the horizon like warm taffy. Everyone gathered in masses outside their vehicles, telescopes poised, cameras ready. The air was palpable.

Rebecca’s grip on Tom’s hand tightened as she let out a guttural scream, echoing through the chaos. Tom’s hands trembled as he reached for his phone, dialing 911 with urgency.

The sky began to transform. Blue transformed into velvety indigo. Wisps of clouds scattered as if aware of the impending spectacle. Birds chirped their final melodies, taking refuge in the shadows cast by the approaching eclipse.

“Tom. It’s him. Tom.” Rebecca spoke breathlessly with a dead gaze, staring out the front windshield at the man who kept manifesting before her throughout the day. His gaunt, soulless eyes stared through them. He held a sign sketched in gold as he meandered his way to their vehicle. Neither could understand what it said.

“Lock the doors.” Tom lunged over at Rebecca and locked her door.

“911. How can I connect to your call? Tom’s hand dropped the phone, and it fell to the ground by his feet. The muffled voice vibrated against his leather shoe, as audible as the sign the ghastly figure was holding, closing in. With his jaw unhinged, he murmured in indistinguishable language and slammed the paper on the windshield.

The radio surged to life, emitting ear-piercing static, making them clutch their ears in discomfort. The man’s bony fingers tapped on the glass of Rebecca’s window and clawed their way down, creating a screeching sound. Fingernails on a chalkboard. He then opened the locked door miraculously, causing Rebecca to let out a horrified scream.

Tom fumbled for the keys, struggling to start the car and escape the nightmare unfolding before them. The figure’s eyes glowed with an otherworldly light as the radio blared a message in a language that sounded like gears grinding.

As the moment of totality drew near, the once-radiant orb of golden light dimmed to a mere sliver, its brilliance waning behind the looming moon. The moon staked its place in the heavens, a dark silhouette against the sun’s burning corona. The air grew cold. An overwhelming scent of vinegar infiltrated their car.

As the eclipse reached its peak, Rebecca writhed in agony, her screams echoing through the brief period of night. Shadows danced upon the hills, twisting and contorting in macabre shapes as if eager to claim their prize.

Rebecca’s stomach mimicked the shadows contorting into bulges as she reached between her legs at the stabbing pain. The baby’s head emerged, her beady black eyes staring at her. Rebecca arched her back in pain and terror, wailed one last grunt, and pulled the child from inside her. Rebecca passed out and tumbled out of the car at the ragged feet of the proclaimed prophet. His creaking bones stooped and cascaded like a xylophone, and he grabbed the weightless suckling, seizing it in a tight embrace while still attached to its mother’s sacred lifeline.

The child entered the world not with a cry but with a chilling silence that suffocated the air.

In a low growl, the prophetic man spoke, “This moment is mine. I manifested this.” Cackling, he declared, “The dark overlords have summoned me to designate this child, born under the blackened sky, as the chosen vessel for the darkness that hungers for release.”

Rebecca shuddered as she watched, swollen tears streaming down her face, unsure of what fate awaited her newborn.

“Her name, Eclipsia.” The prophet’s eyes gleamed with an otherworldly light as he placed an ashed mark on the child’s forehead, sealing its destiny with a curse that would forever bind it to the shadows.

The child bore the mark of the eclipse, an omen of darkness that clung to its soul like a shroud.

With desperation, Tom crawled through the Ranger, reaching out for Rebecca.

Amid the chaos, an inexplicable shift occurred. The fundamental structure of reality buckled under the burden of the extraordinary celestial spectacle. Gravity, the unwavering force that binds us to Earth, faltered and vanished, causing the world to plunge into a state of weightlessness.

The laws of physics appeared to unravel with a disorienting jolt, propelling objects, buildings, and even people from Earth’s surface into the vast emptiness of space.

Screams of terror intermingled with gasps of disbelief as the world spiraled into a state of inverted gravity, hurtling toward the uncharted depths of the cosmos.

Tom, in the car, skyrocketed towards space. His face pummeled against the window.

Rebecca, still unconscious, levitated above the prophet, connected to the lifeline that was sustaining her child’s life. Bones fastened to the earth, sucking the nutrients from the soil. Tom fought to steer the car back towards solid ground, but the pull of gravity seemed to have vanished. The prophet’s eyes widened in awe as he witnessed the power of the lifeline connecting Rebecca and her child, a bond more potent than any force in the universe.

Another waft of vinegar infiltrated the surroundings.

Rebecca extended her arm behind her, swatting at the air, searching for something to support her body while cradling her sacred vessel. With a leap of faith, she fell back.

Tom yelled, “TIMBER! The impact jolted him while Rebecca sank.

Tom then swooped down and grabbed her feet.

“Pickles!” Rebecca screamed. Tom chuckled. “You barely hit the couch, and you were out. I’ll get you some pickles.”

Rebecca looked at Tom with one eye shut and her brow and lip curled, a blond tangle of hair scratching her nose.

“You missed the hoopla,” Tom said, laughing. “Traffic was nuts downtown.”

Rebecca, wide-eyed, wiped drool from the crevice in her lips, looked down, and grabbed her bulging stomach for reassurance.

“There were some crazy people out tonight; everyone was acting like it was Y2K.” Tom said. Rebecca let out a sigh. “I can’t believe I missed it.” Tom shrugged. “Well, at least you’re safe and sound here with me.”

When the US started the trade war around 2019, Xi had already given a warning to the US (Trump) by visiting a rare earth factory. This was reported by the press.

And Xi has been patient with Trump for many years, including when all sorts of sanctions were placed on China.

But the US showed its bad intentions during the three trade negotiations held recently in Europe. After agreeing to some terms, the US, at the next meeting. added new demands. They did that on both the second and third trade negotiations, showing that they actually have no intention of accepting China’s terms. Whatever they agreed upon was not serious. Their real intention was simply to keep putting pressure on China.

So the Chinese have had enough. They are not going to waste time negotiating with someone who does not really want to negotiate. So they use one of their trump cards instead – rare earth.

The US can apply whatever sanction they want on China, but it will be totally ineffective. Despite all the previous sanctions and ridiculous tariffs, the Chinese economy continues to grow.

China’s exports rose at an annual 8.3% in September, compared to a growth of 4.4% in August. In the first nine months of 2025, China’s trade with Africa grew by 19.5%, and trade with ASEAN grew by 9.6%. China’s trade with the Middle East is also icreasing rapidly. All these have made the China-US trade no longer important, and China’s economy looks set to grow by around 5% for the year.

Fatayer Bisabanikh (Spinach Pastry) Sambosic

Ingredients

Dough

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• Dash of salt

Filling

• 2 1/2 pounds chopped spinach
• 3 chopped onions
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon each sumac, salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Sift flour then mix with oil. Add remaining dough ingredients and mix well. Knead until dough is smooth.
2. Roll dough very thin and cut into 3 inch circles.
3. Mix the filling ingredients. Take tablespoon of filling mixture and put on each circle. Take each circle and close into the shape of three lines. Secure ends.
4. Dip each piece into vegetable oil and put into pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes until brown.
6. Serve as an appetizer either cold or warm.

Attribution

One Thousand and One Delights by Nahda Salah

What’s it like to be beautiful?

Believe it or not, I dated a model once.

It was 22 years ago and I was a freshman in college. She posed in magazines and did all sorts of gigs and made great money from it. She looked a bit like this gal:

Her mother was a model too, and her father was a handsome photographer, which is how they met. She’d hit the genetic lottery and even done modeling as a kid.

The crazy thing is—how the world treated her in daily life. She only got warnings when cops pulled her over. People beamed smiles at her. Men got all nervous when she talked to them and would smile and stammer and say, “Oh yes ma’am right this way!”

I was like that too when we first met but eventually became normal around her— after my severe imposters’ syndrome and disbelief that she liked me faded. That’s when I began noticing it more.

For example, she got free things all the time. She walked into a store one time and then got back in the car and said, “You won’t believe what just happened!”

“What?”

“The guy in there just gave me free tickets to the concert next week.”

I laughed incredulously and said, “You know that doesn’t just happen right?”

“What do you mean?” She said, genuinely confused.

“Like, having everyone roll the red carpet out for you like that. It’s literally insane that some dude just gave you two expensive tickets to this concert with no strings attached.”

She scrunched her eyes and said, “Why are you mad right now?”

I rubbed my temples because she was totally misunderstanding me.

“I’m not mad at all. I’m just trying to convey to you that us normal folk don’t get all this stuff. But yes, that’s awesome…lets go to the concert.”

An ultra-beautiful woman just lives in a different world than the rest of us.

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